Back in December, in Japan, Manny Pacquiao spoke about a return fight between himself and Floyd Mayweather being done, with Pac Man saying at RIZIN 45 how “Next year, I hope to see you here in Japan with a big fight against…….”
“Floyd Mayweather,” Nobuyiki Sakakibara said.
“I thought you didn’t want me to say that,” Manny laughed.
But now, “Money” Mayweather has claimed he was paid the substantial sum of $4 million due to the way Pacquiao spoke out of turn.
“When Manny Pacquiao spoke about that, he shouldn’t have,” Mayweather said whilst a guest on the Pivot Podcast. “I’m not gonna say he’s right and I’m not gonna say he’s wrong. Just by him saying my name they gave me a cheque for $4 million. He said my name when he wasn’t supposed to. I said, there’s a time and a place for everything. But remember – he got famous because they said he could the guy who could possibly dethrone the king. Did it happen? Absolutely not. Was it easy? Absolutely.”
Mayweather of course defeated Pacquiao, in the so-called “Fight of the Century,” back in May of 2015. In truth, the fight we all waited so long for was one pretty dull affair when it finally came, with Mayweather winning clearly on points. The fight was a massive smash hit at the Box Office, pulling in a record 4 million pay-per-view buys. But does anyone really want to see it again, now, with both guys so much older? Either a real fight or an exhibition, there is no massive fan demand for a Mayweather-Pacquiao II.
But “Money” has got a little richer just because of Pacquiao mentioning his name. Nice work if you can get it.
Meanwhile, in more bad news for Pacquiao, he was given the news this week that he will not be allowed to box at the 2024 Olympics, this a lifelong dream of Manny’s. But will Pac Man box again in the pro ring? There has even been some talk of a possible Pacquiao challenge of current pound-for-pound best Terence Crawford.
